Carolina Beats Louisville, Redux

Tyler Hansbrough seems to have found his shooting range, hasn't he?

Louisville was one of the two teams I worried about most once the brackets came out, and for good reason. (The other team, well, let's see how tomorrow plays out.) The Cardinals had a great halfcourt defense, and unlike Washington State, the speed to get back and tie the Heels up. And for a good a portion of the second half they did just that, battling back to a 59-59 tie.

If there was one thing this UNC team wasn't going to do though, it's lose a game in the Elite Eight on an opponent's come back. Louisville's offense for a large portion of the game seemed to solely rely on the offensive rebound and kickout for a three, a tall order against the Heels' front line, and sure enough, they eventually got that under control, holding them to three offensive rebounds after the tie score and 5-12 shooting, with most of the baskets coming in garbage time.

Louisville could have helped themselves by making more free throws, but I'm not sure it would have been able to overcome the determination of the players so unwilling to repeat last year's mistakes. Carolina put only eight players on the court. No Will Graves, no Mike Copeland, just the same folks that were on the court in New Jersey a year ago. I don't think there was a way they'd let a trophy slip from their hands again.